


The Tale of the Jackal, the Fox and the Goat

by Taz



Category: Highlander: The Series, The Thousand and One Nights
Genre: AU, Fantasy, Historical, M/M, Persian Mythology - Freeform, Seduction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-26
Updated: 2010-12-26
Packaged: 2017-10-14 03:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taz/pseuds/Taz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It hath reached me, O Auspicious Queen, that there was in times of yore and in ages long gone before a young jinni who came to great calamity in al-Misr al-Qahira, which is Egypt the Victorious. Know you that Jinns, being creatures of subtle fire, are wont to take upon themselves the semblance of the sons of Adam and pass their time amongst them performing mischief for good or naught, according to their natures. This jinni being of tender years, even as these ageless creatures may seem, found it pleasant to travel about the world of men, passing as a warrior and a soldier...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tale of the Jackal, the Fox and the Goat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ishafel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishafel/gifts).



It hath reached me, O Auspicious Queen, that there was in times of yore and in ages long gone before a young jinni who came to great calamity in al-Misr al-Qahira, which is Egypt the Victorious. Know you that Jinns, being creatures of subtle fire, are wont to take upon themselves the semblance of the sons of Adam and pass their time amongst them performing mischief for good or naught, according to their natures. This jinni being of tender years, even as these ageless creatures may seem, found it pleasant to travel about the world of men, passing as a warrior and a soldier, and it was in this guise that he happened to come amongst the janissaries of the Sārї`Askar Abercromby when the great general came to admonish the Franks and dispossess them of the land of Egypt. It happened thus:

In the year one thousand two hundred and thirteen, on the tenth day of Muharram, ten ships sailed into the port of Alexandria. They stopped at such a distance that the inhabitants of the town could see them and when a caїque bearing ten men came from the ships, the people of the town went down to the shore and spoke with them, asking who they were and what they would. They replied that they were Englishmen who had come seeking a great army of Franks that had set out from Roum-land under the Sārї`Askar Bunebart, who was their enemy. The people replied saying, ‘That is not our problem. There are no Franks among us save those that reside in the town to trade.’ Thereupon the English requested, ‘Sell us water and provision according their value and we shall stay in our ships lying in wait for them and when they come we shall take care of the matter to save you the trouble.’ The people replied ‘we do not accept what you say nor will we give you anything,’ and they expelled them that the will of Allah might be fulfilled.

The Sārї`Askar Bunebart came with his army and invaded Egypt. A thousand Mamlūks went out to meet them on the plain below the Pyramids. The battle was long; the dust thickened and the world became dark for the smoke of the gunpowder and when it was over, the thousand Mamlūks were dead. For the space of three years, al-Misr lay in the cruel fist of the Sārї`Askar Bunebart. The people suffered much travail; in that time were disfigured the beauty of the Citadel and the palace of Salah Al-Din. The Franks ran mad with tallying the ancient monuments and copying the inscriptions thereon and seizing upon fragments of hoar antiquity. All of this was lost to them when the Sārї`Askar Abercromby swooped down like a Ruhk upon a pigeon to avenge that grossest of insults to the Sublime Porte. But who can fathom the ways of the Infidel? Why fore had the Franks commenced to counting all the species of animals and plants that are on the land? Did not the Prophet himself (may his name be blessed), declare that are 10,000 kinds of beasts above the water and 20,000 of fishes in the sea? Allah should strike with dumbness the tongues of infidels who have no religion but greed for knowledge. The English were even more mad to count things and the Amir al-Umara at the port of Rosetta dispatched four and twenty of his Gaelic janissaries, of which one was the young jinni of whom I spoke, charging them to search the Eastern Desert for ancient monuments and manuscripts and scraps of papyrus with writing thereon. And so they went, taking with them dromedaries and victuals and water, and turned their faces to that which of all the wastes and wolds of the world is the worst and the road thither is long and difficult and the ways are few.

They traveled from the first day till nightfall, when they halted and ate and drank and fed their beasts and rested awhile; and the next day it was the same and they ceased not journeying for seven days. On the afternoon of the seventh day, the simoom began to blow and other hot winds that raised stinging dust and sand-clouds so that the world was canopied in night and although they struggled to make their way, they were overcome by the will of Allah and all died, including to all appearances the young jinni. But the Destroyer of Peace and Joy does not hold the sons of Iblis in his grip and the young jinni awoke to discover his companions about him wrapped in shrouds of sand. The simoom continued to blow, filling his mouth with sand, and so a second time he seemed to perish and wake again, cursing those who had set him to such cark and care and sorrow. But again the simoom filled his mouth with sand, and he seemed to perish. When, at last, he awoke for the third time it was to sweet smelling and gentle airs wafting over his body. These gentle airs were on account of the two damsels, sitting one by his head and the other by his feet, who were fanning him with fans of peacock feathers and he wondered if he had not truly died and woken as a stranger in Paradise. Being shy and sly, he lay with his eyes closed and listened as one spoke one to the other: ‘Sister, never have I seen so comely a youth! Is he not tall and broad of shoulder and bright of blee?’ And the other said, ‘It is so. I have heard that the English are monstrously misshapen in their private parts but his rod is like a marble column and his sac is like a firm red ripe eggplant;’ which saying caused her sister to laugh and the young jinni to blush and his pizzle to bob its russet head. The one said, ‘Hush, he wakes. Let us depart and inform our master.’ They set their fans down and departed, whereupon the young jinni opened his eyes and discovered that he was indeed well nigh naked and trouser-less. His body-pile had been plucked and his flesh oiled and sprinkled with fragrant rosewater and he lay in a tent roofed with scented leather upon a carpet-bed of green and gold. Soon thereafter entered a young slave whose smile was like the crescent moon and who offered him an open gown of the finest muslin that was purfled with red gold and broidered over with the counterfeit presentments of flowers and vines. The slave spoke to him in the English tongue, saying, ‘Stranger, fear not and rejoice in the assurance of safety. You are a guest in the tents of the Qadir Bey, the Amir al-Hajj, and may linger here in complete surety for three days.’ The slave then went about arranging cushions for sitting and bubble pipes for smoking. He set out flagons of drink and brass trays upon which were all manner of meat and frumenty. And when he had completed all these preparation, he put back the wide wings of the tent-curtain and presently there entered one who seemed to be a man of venerable and noble aspect, whose brow was creased with great responsibility and whose beard was shot with hoarfrost, a person of stately stature and complete majesty.

The young jinni beheld the Amir al-Hajj, and was in this wise abashed and confused: he said in himself, ‘Allah protected me from toil and travail and lack of luck to fall into the hands of one who has attained such age and dignity,’ for he recognized the Amir Qadir Bey as like to himself. Fore by the thundering of their great brass wings, which are invisible, one jinn may not hide his aspect from another. The young jinni thought that this must be a creature of power, stealth and cunning who might seek to end the course of his existence. In fear and trembling he threw himself upon his knees and saluted him with the goodliest salaam; ‘O magnanimous Lord and valorous Lion, I am hight Duncan, the son of Leód, of the seed of Leód. Great jinni, I entreat you, say what countryman you are, whom I owe my salvation; I promise, on my part, not to annoy you!’ As he knelt upon the carpet-floor with his robe open about him, Qadir Bey marveled at his charms of favor; the young jinni’s face was like _rondure_ of the moon on the fourteenth night and the hair of his head was like the mane of a black horse. His eyes were those of a young gazelle, fringed with sooty lashes and hung with nature-kohled lids. A tiny nut-brown mole which sat enthroned beside his lip like a dot of ambergris raised his beauty to such a rare pitch of perfection that Qadir Bey marveled at his beauty and manliness and he could not help but exclaim in himself, ‘What charms!’ A yearning in his vitals of the most animated kind took possession of him, but Qadir Bey abounded in wiles and guiles and shrewd cunning and was not one to loose his heart to any face, no matter how enchanting. ‘Bismillah,’ he said, ‘be at peace brother. What so be your case, thou hast the protection of the Amir al-Hajj and, though you are a stranger in this land, we need not be strangers to each other.’ Upon hearing this, the young jinni kissed the ground between his hands, and said, ‘I am fortunate indeed to have fallen in with you for it could have gone hard with me.’ And Qadir Bey said, ‘Come, eat with me; tell me thy tale and all that hast befell thee,’ and he seated himself upon the cushions and placed the young jinni on his right hand. They ate and they drank freely of all that was there and Qadir Bey fed the young jinni with tit-bits of meat with his own his own hand and the young jinni was delighted by these signs of respect and affection and told Qadir Bey of his sufferings and travail in the Eastern Desert and the cause thereof. He told how the Amir al-Umara at the port of Rosetta, one Hutchinson, had sent a troop of Gaelic janissaries into the desert, searching for ancient manuscripts and scraps of papyrus with writing thereon, and how all but he had died upon the search. What thought of this Qadir Bey kept to himself but with his own hand he prepared a sherbet of sugar candy for the young jinni to drink. The young jinni did not observe the ball of bhang that was hiddent therein and swallowed it down. Soon he fell into a languorous insensibility with the eyes half closed in his head, whereupon Qadir Bey took him in his arms and kissed his mouth like a bird feeding its young and strained him to his bosom. He stroked the young jinni from breast to the fork and discovered that his navel was a silver goblet that would hold an ounce of benzoin-ointment and that his pizzle was a scepter of red carnelian all a-drip with the morning dew. Qadir Bey took hold of it and stroked and fiddled and teased, raising the young jinni to such a pitch that when he desired to do the deed of kind, the sleepy young jinni turned up tail and spread himself over a heap of cushions and willingly fulfilled all that was required of him in the way of womanly submission, and more; it is one with that tribe of the sons of Iblis; they think it no shame. The young jinni slept the night through in the arms of Qadir Bey and when the black raven of darkness flew from its perch, he woke with a heavy head and a heart consumed with love for Qadir Bey; it was love like unto the dreams of the dreamer or the sleep-visions of the sleeper or the mirage of the desert, which the thirsty take for water; so Iblis makes it fair for men, and jinns, even unto death. For seven days they companioned together, consorting with each other and telling marvelous tales of times gone by and the ages they had seen. Qadir Bey gave the young jinni a Rabite mare to ride, saddled and bridled with fine leather and silver trappings.

Now it is incumbent upon all true believers that once in their life they travel to the Holy City of Makka and the caravan with which the young jinni had fallen was composed of those blessed pilgrims who had survived a journey fraught with peril from storms and shipwrecks and banditry and disease and were returning to their homes after years upon the way. They went by foot and by every kind of camel, lean or fat, and by mule-back and they went in serenity as by a well-watered way. It seemed to the young jinni that the nearer they came to God-guarded Cairo, the more his friend Qadir Bey grew despondent and downhearted. He determined to discover the cause and addressed him in this serious manner: ‘you know that I am your sincere lover and friend. Tell me what it is that troubles you; if there is ought I can do to relieve you, I beg you to tell me of it.” Qadir Bey expressed a deep sigh and said, ‘I cannot hide my sorrow from you. In three days we will rest in a khan upon the heights of the Mokattam Hills and the day after will I up with me and go down into the city; indeed there is no profit in delay; but I have been three years on the road and my heart fails in my breast at the very thought of home.’ The young jinni said, ‘is it on account of the evils that the barbarian Franks or the arrogant Sassenach may have perpetrated in your absence?’ ‘No,’ Qadir Bey said, ‘the Franks and the English are flea bites; scratch the bumps and the itch will pass. But ever and ever, through the tides of time, on every occasion where I return to God-guarded Cairo after a three-year absence I am in fear my house has been despoiled by my enemy. My enemy is an ifrit of frightful evil and fearful vengeance and he has persecuted me through the centuries!’ The young jinni wondered at this, and said, ‘How do you come to have an enemy of such unceasing malignancy?’

‘I will tell you how it is with me,’ Qadir Bey said. ‘In the days when I believed myself to be a true son of Adam, there was a great debate among the people as to the nature of the Omnipotent. There were then followers of the Nazarene who proclaiming falsely that God is Three, but in my soul, I apprehended the yet unrevealed truth that God is One. When I attempted to correct the people, that apostate Sultan of the Roum, hight Yulian (may Iblis bugger him for eternity!) cast me into prison. Seeing me thus bound, the people rose against me and dragged me from my cell and cast me into the river. So I gave up my life as a son of Adam and was reborn among the tribe of Jinns, wherein we are compelled to live for eternity. In the turning of the earth and courses of the tide, I traveled the world of men, seeing the cities and the nations, striving to comprehend the mystery and purpose of my being. On the 27th day of Safar in the year of the earthquake I heard the teaching of Prophet Mohammed (may his name be ever blessed) and embraced Al-Islam. I came to God-guarded Cairo and set myself up as a witness to the Truth and practiced the obligations incumbent on believers. Now, in it happened that there was another of Iblis’s sons dwelling within in the city, hight Methodius, the dream of philosophy, as thoroughly versed in the history of all the kingdoms of the world as in all the languages spoken in Babel. He seemed a young man, blooming in the spring of life, who united in himself the skills of a physician and engineer. He was fair of favor and dignity; slender as a young cypress; his face was like the moon surrounded by a halo of light; his forehead was bright as a polished mirror and his eyebrows were like a bended bow but his eyes were harder than emeralds and his tongue was sharper than an unsheathed sword. He professed himself a Magian and venerated fire in lieu of the Omnipotent and was wont to swear by shade and light and the spheres revolving day and night. With all my heart I entreated him, ‘Leave your ignorant fire worshipping! Worship Allah the All-compassionate, the Living, the Eternal, who ceases not, for it is only through faith and service to Allah that such as we may be blessed with infinite mercy and compassion and beneficence and be admitted to Paradise, even upon our knees.’ But he persisted in his mal-practices and mocked me saying, ‘Plague me not with your talk of divinity and eternity. Look about this land; observe the empty ruins that were once the living hearts of great cities. Yet the Sunderer of societies and Depopulator of populous places dispersed their might. The songs that raised the stones are forgotten, though they were sung for thousands of years; jackals howl where Atun and Atinous dwelt. Having seen what I have seen and knowing what I know, I doubt me, though your prophet is persuasive, this Allah will build half so well.’ Perceiving that Iblis had blown the breath of hauteur and conceit into his nostrils, I quit his company that I might live among the faithful as Allah commands.

‘Time turned and I took to wife a lady, hight Huda, and never was a woman so beautiful or so wise. To gaze upon her and to be passionately in love were one and the same thing with me and I could not endure to be parted from her for an hour. My mind was constantly fixed upon her and, I assure you, I received sufficient tokens in return to satisfy me of the depth of her affections. I gave her an apartment with eunuchs and slaves and handmaidens for her service and a fixed daily allowance. Yet time continued to turn and it happened that I was appointed Amir al-Hajj, which sacred office protects the caravans of pilgrims from the Bedouins who would pillage and despoil them. With sadness in my heart but faith in the Omnipotent, I put on the dress of a traveler and called my wife to me. I apprised her of the great honor that had been done me and instructed her on how to conduct herself while I was away. I said, “Tomorrow I fare forth; see thou protect my interests and fail not in service of any of my friends nor suffer them to lack for aught,’ She replied, ‘I will do all as thou hast bidden.’ Now I did not see any reason to warn Huda concerning my enemy for she was prudent and virtuous and her greatest pleasure was to make me happy. It had been many years since he had last been sighted in God-guarded Cairo, and I believed that he took no delight in women, so easy in my mind I set out from home, faring far to Baghdad and to Meddena and to the holy city of Mekka and I was away from home for the space of three years and in that time the Almighty saw fit to preserve me from destruction.

Upon my return, I sent messengers before to tell Huda to send to the vintner and the fruiter and butcher and the flower seller; to strain the wine and cook the meat and arrange the flowers and fruits and put oil in the lamps and burn all sorts of perfumes to make the house sweet and ready for my arrival. But when I arrived, there was no one to great me: not my wife, nor a slave, nor a servant, nor a eunuch awaited me at the door. I entered and found the floors un-swept and the lamps un-filled and spiders in the oil jars! I went into my wife’s chamber and found Huda alone within. But O! what a change had come over her; her hair had turned as white as sun-bleached bone. At sight of me, she grabbed a handful of dust and strewed it on her head and tore her clothing and fell to buffeting her face and weeping and wailing and I cried, ‘Wife what hath befallen thee? Tell me all and conceal naught.’ She smote her breast and answered, ‘O, my husband! Within days of your departure, one arrived at my door who sent me word saying he was an old friend of yours, hight Methodius. O, that evil day! Bearing in mind your instructions that I fail not in service to any friend of yours, I invited him into my presence. I confess, when I set eyen upon him, I wondered at him saying he was an old friend of yours; he seemed the merest boy. This miscreant youth laid violent hands upon me and took his will of me and would have carried me away; whereupon I cried out at him and the eunuchs all came running and shouting and brandishing weapons and he took fright and ran away. And ever since then, I have dwelt alone in my shame without friend or companion or comfort, opening the door to none, losing my looks and awaiting your return, which I never doubted.’ Upon hearing this, I was transported by a fit of jealousy and drew my knife from my girdle. I would have slain her then and there, but she threw herself at my feet and begged me not to stain my hands with her blood. I ran from the house and walked the winding streets all night in a black rage. I know not how long but the next morning, of my love for her, and in pity, for she had grown old and ugly, I determined to go back and forgive her. As I approached the street wherein my house stood, I met a funeral procession coming down and recognized among the mourners my most immediate neighbor. I approached him and asked him who it was had died. ‘O, stranger,’ he said (for I had been away so long with so little change that he took me for my cousin), ‘This is a sad and strange story: last night, my wife heard a voice from the house next door crying in the greatest anguish: ‘O! The Shame! I cannot bear the shame!’ and fearing some catastrophe, we broke down the door and discovered Huda, the wife of the Amir al-Hajj, hanging from a beam by a silken rope. It seems that she had hung herself from the beam but we know not how, for the beam is very high and there was no bench nearby.’ By this I knew my enemy had returned and had murdered her in spite of me. At present, matters are in this state: though I serve as the Amir al-Hajj, and have a hundred times and have abided thus a thousand years and amassed treasure sufficient for this world, yet whenever I return from the hajj, a great fear comes upon me.’ Qadir Bey wept and the young jinni wept with him, saying, ‘This is indeed a frightful tale. If there is ought I can do to comfort you, you have but to tell me.’ Qadir Bey said, ‘As a follower of the prophet Yeshua, I was of a peaceful and passive mind; such was my nature that I could not kill a scorpion and must summon a servant to put it out of doors; embracing Enlightenment did not change that in me. Yet, I pray that someone will contrive me the slaughter of this perfidious jinni; it is the dearest wish of my heart.’ ‘I would that thy shadow should never be less,’ the young jinni said; ‘my arm is strong and my sabre is sharp; to hear is to consent.’ Qadir Bey said, ‘Destiny drave you to my tents. Do this thing you will recompense my love and receive a reward in heaven.’ ‘But tell me how to find this Methodius and I will destroy him in the manner laid down for the destruction of our kind in the time of Sulaymon David’s son (peace be on the twain).’ ‘In two days time,’ Qadir Bey said, ‘we rest at a caravansary before the walls of God-guarded Cairo. Then go into the city and seek a particular house at the end of the street of the sword makers, near the Kahn el-Kalili. You will know the house it by its lofty walls and wooden lattice screens and the broad gates fitted with panels of sandal and aloes wood. You may slip over the gate when it is dark. Take care you dispatch him at once and do not let him speak to you for he is of cunning most cunning; his mouth is like a honey comb; he’ll offer you sweetmeats with an edged tongue and trick thee with the guile of the fox.’ ‘Fear not,’ the young jinni said, ‘I will not listen to his lies and swindles.’

That night at the place of encampment, he lay upon the carpet bed beside Qadir Bey, but being young and willful he became wishful of setting out. He said in himself, ‘I made a vow and swore an oath and, as this noble jinni himself has said, there is no profit in delay.’ He rose and saddled the Rabite mare and rode all night beneath the full moon (which was as bright as a reading lamp) until morning unsheathed the sword of dawn. At a caravansary before the walls of God-guarded Cairo, he rested and breakfasted and left the Rabite mare in the care of a trustworthy hostler. Then he went his way through the streets of God-guarded Cairo which is the first city of the world. He had heard how the Franks had burned the gates of the all quarters of the city and used the Citadel as a stable; now he observed the damage to the domes of the mosques and saw the lofty minarets with bullet holes and the many-storied madrasas with their screens broken. He observed, as well, ancient ruination due to neglect and corruption and he said in himself, ‘surely great harm has been done to these people.’ Betimes he sought the house which Qadir Bey had described to him in the street of the sword makers. But, it was not as Qadir Bey had described it; the lofty walls had been pierced by cannon fire and the screens were broken; there were empty sockets in the broad gates where the panels of sandal and aloes had been. He peered within and saw the burned out stables and a garden with a broken fountain. But there were masons and carpenters and diverse craftsmen aplenty, all busy at work repairing the damage. As he stared, a caravan of dusty dromedaries laden with logs of cedar and teak and ebony and tiles of marble and alabaster and all the materials for the craftsmen to repair a house passed through the gates. The last that entered was a horseman fitted and caparisoned like a prince; whose face was veiled with an indigo cloth such as the Bedouins of the Western Desert are wont to wear to protect their faces from evil spirits and the windblown sands. The young jinni recognized the horseman as a fellow tribesman of the Jinn by the sound of four brass wings drumming in his brain and he knew this was Qadir Bey’s enemy by the eye-glance the rider cast upon him; it was keener than a dagger’s edge and harder far than emeralds. The young jinni thought in himself, ‘This house is not as Qadir Bey described it, but this is that accursed ifrit who haunts him; I fear him not; what harm can he do me?’ and he sat and waited upon a broad bench outside the gate until nightfall.

When the moon rose, he clomb up the wall and dropped over the other side. By night, the ruined garden seemed a place of moonlight and shadow. A nightingale gave voice to the night in the bare branches of a quince tree and night-blooming flowers expelled sweet odors into the air, yet among the shadows was one unlike any other. There was the sound of four brass wings drumming and voice like a bell called out, ‘Ill-mannered pup, say what business you have that you sneak into my house without invitation!’ The young jinni showed his sabre, the pommel agleam in the moonlight. ‘O perfidious fairy,’ he said, ‘I am hight Duncan, the son of Leód, of the seed of Leód, and for too long thou hast troubled the world of men; I mean to strike off thy head and put an end to thee.’ ‘Bold words, son of Leód,’ the other said, ‘but perhaps thou hast inadvertently assailed the wrong address; in my recent absence the worthless Franks pillaged my house; you may see that that I am bothered with making repairs.’ ‘Wretched jinni!’ cried the young one, for he believed the other feared him, ‘Home beaker! Despoiler of other men’s wives.’ ‘Harsh words,’ the other said, ‘It has been a dreadful eon since I despoiled any man’s wife; even then I doubt me it was yours!’ ‘Liar! You brought such shame upon the beautiful Huda, the wife of my friend Qadir Bey, that she destroyed her own life! Do you deny it?’ ‘I deny it absolutely,’ the other said hotly, ‘I know not this Qadir Bey of whom you speak but, now that you recall to me the name one who assuredly resides in Paradise, I suspect I knew him, hight George of Lacadocia, in the Time of Ignorance; a parasite so low and loathsome that would sell himself for a honey cake!’ ‘You admit it!’ the young jinni cried. ‘I admit nothing;’ said the other, ‘but if you listen to my tale, I will tell you how it was with him!’ ‘Proceed with thy story you wretch!’ the young jinni said; but, as he was beginning to comprehend the foxiness of this jinni’s tongue, he added, ‘Take heed thou relatest nothing but what is true!’ ‘Dost thou think I am as perfidious as thyself or that thief of books? I will tell you nothing but what I have seen with my eyes and heard with my ears! There was in times and tides long gone, so much blasphemy and argument that it was a rare cook who could bring the Nazarenes, the Magians and the Pagans to eat from the same dish, but that pimple on Iblis’s prick succeeded in making himself hated by all. That purveyor of shoddy goods, that receiver of taxes, accumulated such a fortune that he was promoted to Bishop of Alexandria, where he disputed the wisdom of the Council of Nicea and persecuted all who opposed him. He caused such irritation to the people that when his downfall was proclaimed I was not one who wept when I heard it. Neither was I overjoyed to learn that he still walked above the earth a hundred years later, nor that the prevaricator had embraced the teaching of Mohammed.’ ‘For his faith and your hatred of him,’ the young jinni said, ‘you work him injury wherever you may!’ The moon had come full overhead in the course of their wrangling and showed the young jinni’s face was like its twin. The other sighed and said, “Duncan, son of Leód, you are mickle of mischief and full of foolishness but truly the Power that fashioned thee was a cunning craftsman. Were things other than they are with me, I would invite thee to my table to sup with me and thence to my bed to pleasure me and I tell you, I would fain avoid this encounter. I will make a compact with you; if you promise to depart and depart promptly, I will not harm you, but, if you continue to persist in disputing me, I will beat you with your own sword and boot you into the street with nothing but a filthy smock to cover the shame below your waist.’ At this, the young jinni cried, ‘Is this a time for vain words or a time for serious work? Put up!’

He raised his sabre and it was true that his arm was strong and his skill with edged weapons, be it sabre or scimitar or two-handed broadsword, was great. But the other knew a clever trick and knocked the sabre from his hand and seized the hilt before it hit the ground and smote him such a blow on the head that young jinni fell down in a faint. As he lay comatose, the other stripped him naked and, when the young jinni had recovered from his fainting fit, proceeded to give him hundred hard blows with the flat of the blade. He buffeted him without the least mercy and the hundred and first blow that he struck, he struck so hard that the blade broke and the young jinni fell again down all arsey-versey. His nether cheeks were very bright red and all beaded with sweat like a dew-spangled rose. The other said in himself ‘Laud to the Lord! Assuredly, you will not forget this night!’ and he dropped upon him and covered him and took his will of him many times with inexhaustible lust and, in the morning, true to his word, booted him into the street with naught but a pair of petticoat pantaloons such as women wear to cover the parts below his waist; as a warning to who so will be warned.

And so the matter came to easy issue for him, but worse for the young jinni who went his way weeping bitterly. All the people he passed all thought that he was some wandering madman or some lover parted from his beloved. In himself he said, ‘By Allah who respiteth the sinner but letteth him not escape, I will settle this account. But how can I, when I have neither sword nor dagger? I am in a terrible pickle.’ As he spoke, he came down the street of the sword makers and there in front of his shop stood a swordsmith who was keening and lamenting the perfidy of a pestilent slave who had sickened and died that very morning. ‘Woe to me!’ the swordsmith wailed, ‘that I have no one to pump the bellows and blow the coals hot and here in my hand is a commission to make a hundred common swords for the soldiers of the Sārї`Askar Abercromby.’ The young jinni stopped, and said, “I will pump the bellows and blow the coals hot for you and, if you will but make one sword more for my wage, you may beat me like your slave.’ The swordsmith cried, ‘By Allah, if you will work like my slave, I will beat you like him, too, and gladly!’ All the people in the street of sword makers heard this said among themselves, ‘he is more beautiful than any she but, by Allah, he is of little wit or judgment.’ They ran and told their friends and soon a great crowd gathered to watch the young man in petticoat pantaloons pumping the bellows while the sworder beat him, and anon came down the jinn Methodius, who said to him, ‘This is not the way of a man of sense. Methinks the blow I smote you rattled thy reason.’ Although his face was still veiled, his eye-glance was laden with laughter and the young jinn replied stoutly, ‘Perfidious fairy! You thought to humiliate my by setting me in the street in petticoat pantaloons but the beating that this good sworder gives me stokes my rage anent you and keeps it hot; whilst I pump the bellows for him to make me a sword, with which I mean to kill you.’ Quoth Methodius, ‘The Lord of Light is Holy and Glorious and what He willeth is, and what He willeth not, is not,’ and went his way. Shortly there came to the shop of the sworder, a eunuch who barely ducked his head and sniggered at the young jinni, saying, ‘my noble master thinks it unseemly that a youth possessed of such beauty should have no jewel to set it off; he bade me give you this and requests you wear it.’ Whereupon around the young jinni’s neck the eunuch hung a fraying string from which dangled a ring of plain black iron. And all the people watching, said, ‘surely this eunuch’s noble master is capricious and cruel and scant of alms.’ The young jinni burned with shame but in himself he said, ‘That pernicious Methodius is the true cause of my shame and he will pay for this insult, as well.’ Shortly there came to the sworder’s shop, another eunuch. This one bowed low to the young jinni and said, ‘my noble master thinks it unseemly that a youth of such favor should labor like a white slave for the sword of a common soldier; he bade me give you this and commend it to your use.’ Whereupon he handed the young jinni a scimitar with a blade of blue steel like watered silk and a hilt of ivory set with pearls. All the people watching, except the sword smith, applauded and said, ‘surely this eunuch’s noble master is a prince of power and discrimination who has fallen in love with this moon-faced youth.’ The young jinni said in himself, ‘This is a suitable weapon with which to take the head of that vile jinni who has shamed me thrice,’ and making his salaam to the swordsmith, who was much put out that he was now going to have to purchase two slaves to make up the loss of the strength one free man, set out to retrace his path up the street of the sword makers. But, when he attempted to enter the gate of the house of Methodius, his way was blocked by three large eunuchs. ‘It will go hard with you if you attempt to prevent me entering here,’ the young jinni said. ‘I have business with the owner of this house.’ The three eunuchs all laughed and the biggest one said, ‘those are rash words from a madman who goes about the streets unashamed in a woman’s petticoat pantaloons.’ Then all three of the eunuchs seized the young jinni and bound him round with cords. Then they called a porter and tumbled him into the porter’s basket and threw the scimitar in the basket with him. They instructed the porter in this fashion, ‘Heave him up and take him to a certain house and ask for a certain lady; our master saith that it is not meet to beat a willing donkey, but hitch him to the task at hand.’ The porter heaved his basket on his back and carried the young jinni to a certain house wherein he enquired for a certain lady. On being led into the presence of that lady, he set his basket down and turned it over. Out tumbled the young jinni, who rolled over and over and fetched at the foot of a cedar wood couch. The porter then took his wage and left, while the young jinni wiggled and wriggled like an inch-worm until he could rear himself upon his knees.

He found himself in a chamber where the lamps were burning and the smoke of perfume spired in the air. There were four women seated on four cedar couches and all four were veiled with muslin veils. The young jinni bowed his head and addressed the first lady, saying, ‘I am hight Duncan, the son of Leód, of the seed of Leód. Lady, for pity’s sake, for what purpose do you use me thus?’ The first lady lifted her hand and lowered her veil and showed her face to the young jinni and he was dumbstruck. For although she was a dame of some fifty years and her hair was white as bleached bone, she was as beautiful as the old moon cradled in the new moon’s arms. Then the three other ladies all lifted their hands and lowered their veils and showed their faces and they were like attendant stars; one was a matron of some forty years and she was as lush as a lotus blossom; one was a woman of some thirty years, the very flower of blooming womanhood; and the third was a damsel of some twenty years, as graceful as a young gazelle. ‘What do you mean by this, ladies?’ the young jinni cried. ‘Forgive this rough and ready treatment son of Leód,’ the oldest lady said, ‘It was not by my request you were used so. I merely wished that death would look me in the face before I died.’ ‘How can I be your death?’ the young jinni cried, ‘save by looking upon your faces to the dishonor of your lord and I assure you, that is not my will!’ ‘Son of Leód, before I explain myself, you should know that I am Akila, wife of Qadir Bey; these with me are my sister-wives, Jumanah, Raminah, and Zafira. Our husband has been gone from God-guarded Cairo for nigh three years and in all that time we have not heard one word of him until today, when one sent to tell me he would send you to me with news of him. Tell me quickly! Does Qadir Bey still reside above the earth? Yea or nay?’ The young jinn said, ‘Rejoice, lady, that noble gentleman still resides above the earth and will be with you before this day is done.’ At these words, the women all fell to crying and keening, and the youngest said, ‘Curse the hearing, son of Leód. My sister’s death came in the door with you.’ ‘Again, I entreat you,’ the young jinn cried, ‘I would harm to no woman.’ ‘Will you, nil you,’ the youngest lady said.’ How so?’ the young jinni cried in great distress, for he truly willed harm to no woman. ‘Hush sister,’ the oldest lady said, ‘it takes a wife to discover a husband’s secrets. Hear me, Son of Leód, and you will learn what reason we have for unveiling in front of you. Of the wives of Qadir Bey, I am the oldest now living. I was twelve years old when my father gave me to him in marriage and I thought it unbearable to be given to a man who already had three wives, as is permitted by law, but who was older even than my father. But the sage saith that a girl’s lot is either grace of marriage or the grave and Qadir Bey was wealthy and my father was poor, so I consoled myself, saying, ‘Old as he is, it cannot be long before he is translated to the Mansion of Eternity and things went well with me for seven years; he gave me, as he giveth to all of his wives, my own apartment and an allowance of a thousand sequins a month, with which I might purchase whatever I wished, whenever I wished, in the way of clothes and sweetmeats. He made me an honored portion of his world, although I was not blessed with boon of child, and his other wives were all my friends. In the seventh year my husband again took up his duties as Amir al-Hajj and called his wives to him and said to each of us, ‘Tomorrow I fare forth and in my absence see that thou protect my interests and fail not in service of any friend, nor suffer them to lack for aught.’ We each swore to this and said: ‘We will do all as thou hast bid.’ For three years he was gone upon the way and upon his return, he went first into the chambers of my then oldest sister-wife, hight Fathiyah. Anon there came the sound of angry voices and of two great screams, one of rage and one of fear and then there was silence. When my husband came from the chamber his scimitar was bloody and his face was sere. He said, ‘My wife, Fathiyah permitted a stranger to see her unveiled and for this dishonor I have killed her.’ He built a tomb and mourned her for thirty days. After the mourning period, he went to the Hammam-bath and when he returned, sought me in my chambers. We sat and ate and teased each other and I remarked upon how little changed he was from my memory of three years before. Little did I know then of the curses and indignities of old age, but I said that in the ten years of my life with him that he did not appear to have grown one whit older! My husband became enraged at this, and said, ‘The wit of woman is weak; a word is a sufficiency; you misremember and you will mention this foolishness to no one.’ The next month he took to wife Jumanah.’ Here the Dame indicated the Matron who was as lush as a blooming lotus, and she took up the tale:

‘My father was a poor barber and in my twelfth year, he married me to Qadir Bey. I gave honor to my husband, wishing only that perhaps he had not been so old, and gave respect to my sister-wives such that I knew naught but love from them in return. For seven years we lived in peace and harmony but in the seventh year Qadir Bey again took up his duties as Amir al-Hajj and called each of us to him; ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘I fare forth. In my absence, see that thou protect my interests and fail not in service of any friend, nor suffer them to lack for aught.’ Each of us swore to obey, saying, ‘We will do all as thou hast bid.’ He was three years upon the way and with his return, went, as is right, first into the chambers of the then oldest wife, Halawah, in that day, and anon there came the sound of angry voices followed by two great screams and, when my husband exited the chamber, his scimitar was bloody and his face was sere. He said, ‘While I was away, Halawah permitted a stranger to see her face; for this dishonor I have killed her.’ We built a tomb and mourned Halawah for thirty days. After the period of mourning was done, Qadir Bey betook himself to the Hammam-bath and, upon his return, he sought me in my chambers. We ate excellent fruit and drank clear wine and teased each other and I observed aloud how well preserved in looks he looked, as if all the time and hardship upon the way had not touched him. Whereupon he became furious with me and, in a terrible voice, he said, ‘women sometimes have strange wanderings of understanding, but a word is a sufficiency to the wise; you misremember.’ Now this greatly troubled my mind. I confided in Akila and she counseled me thus, ‘There is a mystery here; say nothing of this but between you and me.’ The next month he took to wife Raminah.’ Here the Matron indicated the Beauty who was like a rose, and she took up the tale:

‘It is with me as with Akila and Jumanah,’ Raminah said. ‘My father was poor and in my twelfth year, he made a marriage between me and Qadir Bey. I cannot complain of his treatment for he gave me chambers of my own and servants to wait upon me and never treated me less than honorably, although I was not blessed with boon of child, which saddened me greatly. In the seventh year he again took up his duties as Amir al-Hajj and called each of us to him; ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘I fare forth. In my absence, see that thou protect my interests and fail not in service of any friend, nor suffer them to lack for aught.’ Each of us swore to him: ‘We will do all as thou hast bid.’ And he was away for three full years. Now it chanced that my father was a weaver and it is not in me to sit quietly, I must be ever busy and doing. I said in myself, ‘these chambers my husband has given me for my use are old fashioned and plain. I will spin silk and weave new hangings for the walls. And so I did for three full years and when it came to the time that he should be returning, I gave though to the hanging of the silk and it seemed well to repair the lattice screens, for they were old and broken, and hang new lamps while I was at it. I called craftsmen to take down the old hangings and to repair the screens. The craftsmen were honest and diligent and one day, the chief of the workers came to me with an ancient lamp in his hand. He said that one of the workmen had found it in a chink in the wall. It seemed that someone had taken great care to hide the lamp and when looked inside, I discovered a scroll wrapped in red silk and secured with a green thread. Attached to the scroll by the green thread was a ring of black iron which I put aside. When I unrolled the scroll, I saw that it was written in a delicate but ancient hand that I could not make out. I took it to Akila and she counseled me thus, ‘keep this scroll secret and say nothing of it except it be between you and me and Jumanah,’ and so I put it away with the ring. The next day my husband returned home and he went, as is right, first into the chambers of my then oldest sister-wife, Inaya, and anon there came the sound of angry voices followed by two great screams and, when my husband came into the hall, his scimitar was bloody and his face was sere. He said, ‘Inaya permitted a stranger to see her face; for this dishonor I have killed her.’ We built a tomb and mourned Inaya for thirty days. When the period of mourning was done, my husband betook himself to the Hammam-bath and upon his return, he sought me in my chambers. While I strained the wine poured it out, he expressed great pleasure at the new wall hangings, saying it did his heart good to see the room refreshed. I drank his heath saying, ‘Husband, it does me my heart good to see you so little changed from you left God-guarded Cairo three years ago.’ Qadir Bey then grew wroth said, ‘Foolish woman, your eyes have grown weak from spinning and weaving, never mention such a foolish notion again.’ I said, ‘to hear is to obey, husband.’ But I was troubled in my mind if he was correct. I sought counsel of Akila, who counseled me thus, ‘Raminah, your eyes have not lost their luster, but say naught of this but between you and me and Jumanah.’ The next month he took to wife Zafira.’ Here the Beauty indicated the Damsel who was graceful as a gazelle, and she took up the tale:

‘It is with me,’ Zafira said, ‘as with the others save that my father was a scholar with few students and much time. Despite he thought it a waste to educate a woman, he taught me to read and write, and took pride in my skill. In my twelfth year, he made a marriage between me and Qadir Bey. Although in my heart yearned for the love of a younger man I had naught to complain of in his treatment of me and, for their parts, Akila, Jumanah and Raminah dealt with me with such kindness that I might have been their own daughter and we lived, all four together in love for seven years. In the seventh year my husband once more took up his duties as the Amir al-Hajj and called each of us to him; ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘I fare forth. In my absence, see that thou protect my interests and fail not in service of any friend, nor suffer them to lack for aught.’ Each of us swore to him: ‘We will do all as thou hast bid.’ Now the time hung heavy upon our hands for none of us had been blessed with boon of child, neither male nor female, and so we passed the days by singing songs and reciting verses and telling stories. One day I said, ‘I will send to my father for a story scroll that I might read aloud to you from the _Thousand and One Tales_.’ Whereupon Akila, Jumanah and Raminah all joined in pretending to doubt that I could read. They said that I was bragging and, being hot to prove myself, I cried, ‘bring me any sort of writing and I will read it.’ Akila said to Raminah, ‘fetch the scroll that you found in the lamp that the workman found in the chink of the wall; mayhap it is a story scroll and if Zafira can read it, she will not need to send to her father.’ Raminah brang the scroll and I unrolled it and although it was of a fashion older than any I had ever seen before, I was able to make it out. This is the gist what was writ thereon:

I, Huda, wife of Qadir Bey, who must shortly make my peace with Allah, against my will and want, write this testimony. Three years ago, my husband took up his duties as the Amir al-Hajj. Upon the day of departure, he called me to him and said, ‘Tomorrow, I fare forth and in my absence, see that thou protect my interests and fail not in service of any friend, nor suffer them to lack for aught.’ I swore to obey, saying, ‘I will do all as thou hast bid.’ In the second year of his absence, one came to the door claiming to be an old friend of my husband and I admitted him to my presence. I confess I was amazed for his face was like the glowing moon and I wondered in myself, how one so young could claim friendship of my husband, who was old when I married him. Nonetheless, I gave him food and wine and entertained him with song and verse. Yet as day progressed to evening, he grew sad and said to me, ‘Lady, you have treated me as a friend, when I confess I came to this house with intent of killing your husband for an old evil he did me. But, Lady, I would do well by you. I whist you take this ring of black iron, and should you ever be in need of any help of any sort, send it as a token to the house of Methodius in the street of the sword makers which you will know, and one there will contrive to help you with all haste.’ I could not see how this moon-face youth could be of service to me, but mayhap his father was a powerful prince and he spoke with such sadness and such kindness, that I said that I would keep his ring and remember his pledge for his mother’s sake. In the third year my husband sent messengers so I would know of his arrival imminent and have all ready for his return. I sent to the vintner and the fruiter and butcher and the flower seller. I strained the wine and cooked the meat and arranged the flowers and the fruits. I put oil in the lamps and burned all sorts of perfumes so that all was in readiness for his arrival. Now the way of the hajj is hard and my husband was old; it would not have come as a surprise to hear that he had succumbed upon the road; this did not occur, but in the course of nature, I expected to see some sign of travail about his person. But when he entered my chamber, I perceived that he had not changed by even one iota; the flesh of his brow was not more or less wrinkled or spotted with spots; not one whisker of his beard was more or less hoary than the day he left. Such perplexion and confusion came over me that I could not hide it. ‘What’s whist woman,’ he said, ‘that you blanch so? Did you fail in my absence to obey me in any wise?’ ‘Not so,’ I cried, ‘I protected your interests and failed not in service of any of your friends, not least the young man with the face like the moon’s glowing light!’ ‘And what,’ Qadir Bey said, ‘did that son of Iblis want?’ I lost my head and cried, ‘He said he came to kill you! And I wish he might, for you can only be another of Iblis’s sons!’ ‘It is true,’ said Qadir Bey, ‘and for that knowledge I will not suffer you to live. Make peace with your god,’ and so saying, he walked out and locked the door. It was only then that I bethought me of the young man’s promise and his ring. It is now too late for me but I will tie the ring to a silken thread and wrap it around this scroll and put it inside a lamp and hide the lamp in a chink in the wall. Should some other unhappy wife of Qadir Bey discover this ring and not wish to share my fate, send it to a certain house in the street of the sword makers near the Kahn el-Kalili which you will know by its lofty walls and wooden lattice screens and the broad gates fitted with panels of sandal and aloes wood.’

Then the lady Akila spoke again, saying ‘two days ago a messenger arrived and announced the arrival imminent of Qadir Bey. Yesterday I sent the ring of black iron to the house in the street of the sword makers and bade the servant tell to whom he gave the ring that life is still sweet to me and I do not wish to die; but if I must, I would put a name to the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of societies. Today you have been delivered to our door with the ring of black iron around your neck.’ Hearing all of this and looking upon the grace and beauty of the four wives of Qadir Bey, the young jinni was moved by pity, particularly when he contemplated the fate of Zafira, whose breasts were like two pomegranates of even size and the fate of Raminah, whose mouth was like the ring of Sulayman (peace be on him), her lips coral red and her teeth like chamomile petals, and the fate of Juamanah, whose cheeks were like the anemone ruddy bright. To Akila, whose throat recalled the antelope’s, he said, ‘Lady, I swore an oath never to annoy your husband, but I know now that he played me false and I will redeem Huda’s pledge for the day is long past that Qadir Bey should have paid his debt to time. Now, cut me loose,’ he said, ‘for we have much to do.’ They cut him loose, and he stood and said to Jumanah, ‘Run quickly and fetch me one of your gowns and one of your veils and a sash to tie around my waist.’ To Raminah he said, ‘Send a servant to procure a chest large enough for me to lie within. Have them bring it into to this room and set it on the floor.’ The four ladies wondered but did as he requested and sent a servant for just such a chest and caused it to be brought into the room. But the young jinni did not lie down within; instead he placed the ring of black iron in the bottom and closed the lid.’ To Akila, he said, ‘Lady, Qadir Bey will come immediately to this room and demand to know what man is in the house. Answer him thus: there is no man here. For my part, I will pretend to be the lady Raminah and speak with her voice.’ Betimes Raminah brought him a gown such as he had requested, which was of purple cloth, and a veil of heavy muslin. The young jinni tied the scimitar around his waist with the sash and put the gown on over his petticoat pantaloons and arranged the veil over the back of his head. He said to Raminah ‘go you to a neighbor and hide yourself and, if you value your life, do not enter this place again until the night has joined forces with the day,’ and she promptly departed. To the three remaining, he said, ‘Sweet ladies, I must ask you to take your courage in both of your hands and abide with me and, no matter what you may see or hear, trust that no harm will befall you.’ The lady Akila, who had many years in which to contemplate her fate, was of high courage. She sat upon the couch and took up the wine flagon and crowned three golden goblets with ruby red wine. Two of these she gave to her sister-wives who sat down on her left hand side and the third she handed to the young jinni, whom she seated upon her right hand side, saying, ‘sit as our cup-companion and we will sing songs and recite verses to keep our hearts high while we wait.’ Then she crowned a fourth goblet from which she sipped, saying, _‘Drink! For we know not whence we came, nor why. Drink! For we know not why we go, nor where.’_ And the four ceased not to drink and chat and nibble dry fruits for a full hour, when a knock was heard up the door. The young jinni said, ‘Let us all cover our faces,’ and followed his own counsel by arranging his veil so that only his eyes showed; the three ladies did likewise.

Shortly in came Qadir Bey with a bold stride and his scimitar drawn and his face contorted in such a state of rage that he was hideous to look upon. ‘Where is the man!’ he cried, for, of course, he could hear the drumming of the young jinni’s four brass wings. The lady Akila stood up and said, ‘Husband, there is no man here.’ And Qadir Bey became even more enraged, and roared, ‘Ill-omened crone, wilt thou contradict me? Tell me where he is hidden!’ Then the young jinni stood, letting his body sway as gracefully as a woman’s, and addressed Qadir in a flutelike voice. ‘Husband,’ he said, ‘there is no man in this room, other than yourself, whom we are overjoyed to see returned safely to us.’ At this, the lady Jumanah stood up and cried, ‘Husband, calm yourself, there is only this chest which was sent in here this very morning. The porter who brought it was a young man, broad of shoulder and bright of blee, and his face was like the moon, and he charged me to tell you straight off that it contains your heart’s desire. We have all four been waiting here together because we are anxious to know your heart’s desire.’ At these words, Qadir Bey’s anger vanished from his brow as quickly as a miser’s gold vanishes into his pocket. ‘So you will,’ he cried, ‘You will know my heart’s desire!’ and he plunged his scimitar into the lid of the chest. Over and over he struck until the blade stuck in the wood and would no longer be withdrawn. Thereupon he commenced to kicking the sides of the chest and jumping up and down on top of it and shouting imprecations at it such as, ‘Perverted philosophizer! Manichean heretic!’ At this, the lady Akila cried, ‘Husband! Have you been bitten by the madness bug? You insult a tongue-less box!’ And the lady Jumanah wailed, ‘I ween that chest contained valuable cloth; now it is ruined!’ ‘I will show you what I have ruined!’ Qadir Bey cried, flinging back the lid of the chest, with the scimitar still stuck tight. When he saw that it was empty, but for the little black ring (which he deemed worthless), his face turned as red as a beetroot and he raved around the room, crying, ‘Then he is one of you! Tell me which he is!’ But the three ladies and the young jinni all swayed about him as gracefully as young trees and he could not make out which of them was a woman and which was not. ‘If you do not tell me which is he, I will kill the lot you,’ Qadir Bey cried and caught the lady Zaphira in his arm. But she seized hold of his beard and twisted it and Akila and Jumanah flung themselves upon him, hailing him down him across the chest, whereon the young jinni drew the sharp bladed scimitar from beneath his skirts and struck Qadir Bey’s head from his body as easily as if he were cutting silk. Then a most marvelous and terrible thing happened: all of the oil lamps in the house exploded. Everything became dark except the stump of Qadir Bey’s neck which cast forth fire and bright streaks of lightning. These shot from the stump of the neck and struck the young jinni who fell down in a fainting-fit and lay frothing on the floor, twitching and gibbering and thrusting his loins, like a stallion covering a mare, until the last vitalizing bolt was shot; thereupon he collapsed as one who has accomplished the deed of kind. When his fluttering spirits returned, the lady Akira brought him wine, and said to him, ‘the world is full of terrors and things wondrous and marvelous; we have seen face of death today.’ And the lady Raminah, who had minded the young jinni’s advice carefully, came running in from the neighbor’s house where she had hid herself, for the sun was setting. When she saw Qadir’s Bey’s headless body on the floor, she cried the young jinni the champion of weak women and joined with the rest of the widows in praising him and entreating him. ‘Let us feast you and you may stay with us as our husband,’ they said. But the young jinni refused in this wise: ‘I am stranger in this land and would return to my own place.’ And he instructed them to burn the body of Qadir Bey, saying, ‘scatter his ashes to the wind and speed him to the curse of Allah.’ The four widows promised to do that, and he left them, wearing only the torn petticoat pantaloons he had arrived in and carrying only the wonderful scimitar strapped across his back.

Not always does the crock escape the shock and It was by the will of Allah that the wings of the Angel of Death passed over the young jinni. That night he crossed the city from end to end, from the Bab Zuweila to the Bab al-Futuh, not knowing wither he wended, threading the streets and looking for a place where he could lay his head until morning. As he went, he bewailed himself and his tears flowed freely, for he bethought himself much upon the veiled jinni and in himself, he said, ‘I have done ill by one who has done well by me. Though it grieves me to contemplate the thought, tomorrow I must sell this wonderful weapon and use the proceeds to buy my passage home. It grieves me more that I may never see the jinni Methodius again to beg his pardon for he is a true prince of jinns who would have killed me, had not Truth and Mercy restrained his hand.’ At last, he came to the Mosque Amr Ibn El-Aas, which of all the mosques in God-guarded Cairo is the oldest and, seeing that the lamps were lit therein, he entered and washed himself and lay down upon the palm mats. They were torn and very populous, yet he slept as one dead to the world and did not know when he was taken up and carried into the house at the end of the street of the sword makers. He gave not over snoring until the cocks began a-crowing, whereupon he wiped his eyes and opened them to find himself lying on a carpet-bed in an apartment whose wall were painted with gold and lapis lazuli and its ceiling dotted and starred with red gold. When he saw this, he said, ‘Either I am dreaming or this is Paradise.’ He bit his finger and the bite pained. The young jinni said, ‘It must be Paradise!’ but the thought brought him no pleasure. Then two slave-girls entered bringing in a basin and ewer and poured water for him to wash and another slave-girl brought a bundled suit of linen stuff and helped him to dress. When he had clasped the scimitar around his waist, she bade him accompany her to the men’s sitting room. As he entered the men’s sitting room, the young jinni felt the drumming of four brass wings and understood that he owed this succor to the jinni Methodius and it seemed to him at first that his wits were waylaid for he had thought never to see him more. But then he fell upon his knees and kissed the ground between his hands, crying and begging pardon and forgiveness for all that had passed between them. ‘Qadir Bey deceived me,’ he said, ‘but I have been prideful and foolish and nearly drowned my honor in a shallow cup.’ And then and there he offered to return the magnificent scimitar despite, he said, he knew of only one weapon in the world that was its better. ‘Verily,’ Methodius said, ‘you are stubborn and prideful but you are beautiful as the moon on the fourteenth night. The Lord of Light forgives all sins and I can do no less. You will be my guest.’ He took the young jinni’s face in his hands and pardoned him what was past. joyance grew on the young jinni as he marveled at the generosity of Methodius. ‘Let me see your face,’ he begged, ‘for your eyes are like the palest jade and if thou will love me a span, I will love thee a cubit.’ Whereupon, Methodius cuffed his cheek, and said, ‘There may be overmuch of forgiveness as of every other good thing.’ The young jinni’s complexion, which was wont to be rosy became pale, but Methodius continued, ‘Fear me naught; I have been the means of saving thy life, for sure as day follows night, Qadir Bey would have taken thy head if thou hadst taken mine, and I will be the means of returning thee to thine own land. You may mark this upon the tablet of your heart and impress these words upon the pages of your memory: should you have length of life and continuance of weal and ever again you are in my presence, I will offer you my home as if it was your own; we will know each other then.’ Then he summoned servants who brought in tray after tray of delicate viands, fruits and sweetmeats, and flagons of ruby-red wine, as clear as olive oil. So for a while the two jinns sat together, eating and drinking and telling tales of the lives and notable deeds of their kind. And among these tales, O Auspicious Queen, is one of…

 

Finis  
12/18/10

 

_‘Tis all a Chequer-board of Night and Day_  
 _Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:_  
 _Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,_  
 _And one by one back in the Closet lays._

**Author's Note:**

> When time allows, I will write more extensive notes, but in the meantime immediate acknowledgment must be made to the debt this work owes to Sir Richard Burton's translation of the classic 'Thousand and One Nights', and to Abd al-Rahman bin Hasan bin Burhan al-Din al-Jabarti's history of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, and to the 'Rubaiyat' of Omar Khayyam.
> 
> Go in peace friend.


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